The Shady Side Academy Alumni Council, along with the SSA Alumni & Development Office, hosted its annual Pittsburgh Alumni Reception on Wednesday, May 31, at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh. The event was the culmination of a school-year filled with more than 25 alumni events both locally and across the country. With nearly 150 people in attendance, including alumni and current and former faculty members, it was a record-setting evening in more ways than one.

The attendees at the reception were given a glance at the tremendous successes that have taken place on SSA's campuses this year by Academy President Tom Cangiano. Cangiano gave the alumni in the room many things to be proud of and closed out the program with the faculty in attendance leading the crowd in the singing of the alma mater.

At the end of the evening, it was announced that due to the generosity in the room, the goal for the Alumni Cornerstone Giving Challenge had been met. The challenge, which began on May 2, paid tribute to the laying of the cornerstone of Rowe Hall at the Senior School campus on May 2, 1922, and the goal was to secure 192 alumni gifts in May. Those contributors raised more than $85,000 for the Blue & Gold Fund while unlocking an additional $19,022 of challenge dollars from the SSA Board of Trustees.

Thank you to the loyal and supportive alumni of Shady Side for a successful and celebratory evening!

View the event photos: